Tower or Teether? You decide!

Andrew was getting a little frustrated with his sister the other day...she wasn't using the blocks for towers. I kept hearing Andrew say, "SISTER! It's not for your teeth! It's for your TOWER!!!!" When I walked into the bedroom, she was taking the blocks off the top of their tower and putting them in her mouth. Andrew would heave a huge sigh, roll his eyes, gently remove it from her hands and place it back on the tower. As soon as he turned around, she would take it off the top and put it back in her mouth.

Moving on to another week!

One more week of my crazy insane more-than-full-time-part-time-job! And then it really will be part time and I am SO looking forward to that!

We had a busy weekend that was off to a rocky start but has ended well. I had to work yesterday and came home to a sick little boy. We made, what is beginning to feel like an almost weekly trip for us, to urgent care for more chest x-rays on Andrew. He had a fever, cough, no appetite and was sleeping a lot. Again. The doctor said it was early stages of Pneumonia. Again. *sigh* We are using his inhalers more often and meeting with the pediatrician about our next step. He has a three-year well child appointment in a little more than four weeks and we'll be working through a list of questions and tests at that point.

This morning, however, he woke up fever-free! WAHOO! And has remained that way all day! AND, his cough has lessened SIGNIFICANTLY. I am chalking this up to all the prayer we called in and quickly received (our family & friends are awesome that way!). Because we were all feeling pretty spunky, we took an outing to the outdoor mall in Woodburn and did a bit of shopping (work clothes for me, coaching stuff for Mark, fresh air for the kiddos!). After finding some kickin' deals (I am one of the world's greatest bargain shoppers!) we picked up a few groceries and headed home for the afternoon.

Here's to another week of adult conversation for me and socializing for the kids! WAHOO!

Made it to my "day off"!

Its been a busy and insane week but full of good things! I love (*LOVE*) my new job! It's fast-paced with a little tiny bit of down time here and there to keep you going. The people I work with and for are great! I get to interact with people and be part of the process that makes them feel better!

The kiddos love their daycare, too! The past couple of days we've dropped them off and they haven't even fussed! And then when we got to pick them up, they get a little excited to see us but then fuss and cry when we get in the car to leave. I love it that they WANT to stay and they're EXCITED to go back the next day!

My hours are a little odd this week but that's okay--I'm getting to know people and learning the job and that's what's important. I worked Monday ALL day (8-6:30), Tuesday half day (12-7:30) and yesterday (6:45-4:30) and I'll work at least 12-6:30 tomorrow. I'm exhausted and worn out (still fighting a cold) but managing to get by. Next week will be a full-time gig, too but after that, things should settle into the Tuesday/Thursday schedule.

Now...if I could find the batteries to my camera, I would post some pictures...

*Whew* I survived the first day!

My brain is tired! I survived yesterday but it was a tough, long day. We started out the day at 6 AM getting ready and taking the kids to daycare. Then I headed to work and stayed until 6:15 PM and then headed home for 20 minutes before going to the church to do childcare until 9 PM. Because my hours are normally going to Tuesdays & Thursdays, I wanted to keep my job at the church doing childcare two evenings a week. However, this week those hours will be brutal. I saw my kids for less than half an hour yesterday and won't see them for more than a mere 10 minutes on Friday. But today I get to be with them this morning AND this evening and I'll get to be with them all day this Thursday. Its a long complicated explanation as to why my hours are so messed up this week, but that's just the way it is!

I will love the job and the staff I'm working with, so that's great! Once we get to settle into our regular routine, I think both the kids & I will really benefit from being away from home and away from eachother for several hours out of the week.

I better scoot! I have to get some stuff together for the morning and make sure we're organized and ready to go for the rest of the week!

Big Changes Ahead!

I'm excited and nervous and anxious all at the same time. I interviewed for a part time receptionist/office position at a chiropractor's office and was offered the job this weekend. We have been praying for several weeks for God to provide something that would help me bring in an income but would still allow our kids to spend MOST of their time at home with a parent. God has answered us in so many ways its hard to name them all.

1. The job is with a Christian chiropractor who does his best to hire Christians in his office so he is constantly surrounded by "fellowship and Jesus' love". I'll be working with an entire staff of Christians with Christian music playing in the clinic all day long.

2. The hours are Tuesday, Thursday and every other Saturday. The kids will be in daycare Tuesdays & Thursdays 7:30 to 4:30 and at home with Dad on Saturdays. When June rolls around, they will be at home with Dad. In August they will return to daycare.

3. Our daycare situation is AMAZING: in-home daycare at an affordable rate through a woman from our church who loves our kids. She keeps a steady schedule & routine and cares for the kids in a godly environment. I am truly excited for them to socialize with all the kids, make friends, learn how to learn from another "teacher" and enjoy their break from me.

The first two weeks will be difficult as my hours are pretty much full time while I'm training and getting to know the staff. The kids will be in daycare first thing Monday morning and will have to adjust almost right off. Sara is wonderful and assured me she would do her best to make that transition as easy as possible for them (and me!!). She said once they adjust to being there during these next two weeks, the routine of Tuesdays & Thursdays will be a breeze! I can't wait for that part. I do struggle with the immediate "full time" aspect of things but I also understand why it needs to happen.

We are so blessed! We will be paying off debt faster than we expected--we can't wait to see those balances drop--and we will all get to experience a little change of pace!

It was one of THOSE days...

Today started last night at about 11:30. Tori has picked up whatever crud Andrew had over the weekend and was not about to let any of us sleep. I even tried putting her in the car and driving her all over creation for over an hour. She screamed the entire way. I brought her back home (it was after 1 AM at that point) and Mark managed to get her to sleep around 2 or 3 I think. She was up again at 6:15. She's been super clingy all day and wouldn't let me out of her sight and rarely let me put her down. I managed (after LOTS of coaxing) to convince both kids they needed to take naps at the same time. I sat down briefly to catch my breath and then got up again and worked on a few things.

We ran some errands this afternoon and came home. Mark is in Wilsonville at a track meet until well after 8:00, which means Momma is on her own for the bedtime routine. *sigh* That's not too bad. Dinner, baths, pj's, stories and Tori's bottle and Andrew's bedtime hugs and kisses.

Well, I got dinner going. I took a phone call, heard the kids giggling and thought to myself, "That's such a nice sound! I love it when the kids play together!"

I came back into the dining room and they were having a food fight. Andrew taught Tori how to fling her food at him. And he would fling food back at her. My walls were covered. My floor was covered. Some of my picture frames were covered. I was FURIOUS.

I got them both out of their seats and into the tub. I was washing the table, walls, picture frames, floors, chairs and...whatever else was covered in veggies and noodles when Andrew yells, "MOMMA!!! I POOPED!!!" I ran to the bathroom and, sure enough, he and Tori were sitting in poopy tub water. He's potty trained and this has never been a problem for us, so I'm all confused. But then I realize he's still going and can't stop and its diarrhea. In the tub. With Tori.

I grab both kids out of the water and head for our bathroom down the hall. I get the water going, get the kids soaped up and tell them to sit tight while I go get their towels (lesson learned: I will now and forever more keep towels in our bathroom). I'm grabbing their towels when Andrew yells, "MOMMA! Sister pooped!"

ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!?!

Two kids. One food fight. Two bathtubs. Two poopies. And only two hands to deal with it all. Both kids are fed. Dinner is cleaned up. Both kids are bathed (about three times each!!). Both tubs are cleaned, all the toys are bleached and floors are mopped.

Is it bedtime yet?

No Pneumonia...just the flu!

We went to the doctor yesterday for Andrew's follow-up appointment on his Pneumonia. All his chest x-rays and blood work came back clear! WAHOO! However, he DID spend all day Sunday throwing up and had a really high fever (I think we topped out at 104 degrees). The doctor said there's a nasty stomach virus going around but he should be A-okay in three more days. Yay!

In the mean time, this is what my Sunday looked like. Andrew would not move from that spot all day...

Tori on the go!

We went to the park Friday afternoon and Tori decided to show off her climbing skills. She decided going down the slide was way over-rated, so she went up it:


Then she figured out it was actually more fun to come down:


But then she decided she wanted to go down over and over again and she figured out (by watching Andrew) exactly how to get to the top of the slide:

Yep, she climbed all those steps on her own and headed straight for the top of the slide, sat down and met me at the bottom!

Yay for the park!

Track is in the air!

Yesterday was the first track meet for Mark's middle school team. Track is just an awesome sport! Its a great TEAM sport but its also an amazing individual sport. I miss running on the track and hanging out with my friends and team mates. I miss the relay the most. But at least I get to live vicariously through my kids, right?

Here's Tori with a relay baton and you can almost hear her little voice yell, "STICK" for the exchange.

They're so cute...

...when they're sleeping!

Remembering...

Last night I was out with some friends and we started talking about babies and pregnancy (one of them is preggers due in two weeks!). Those of us who have kids were sharing our birthing stories and those who do not have kids were getting a little freaked out. It was great!

Later on, I was asked how big I got, so I promised to email them pictures from both pregnancies.

Here's me with Andrew about two weeks before he was born. This was taken before he "dropped" and I started having contractions for FOREVER.


And here's Tori about a week before she was born.

On the mend!

Here's what getting better entails:



But we're getting there!

An update...and some pictures

I spoke with Andrew's doctor yesterday afternoon/evening and we're doing pretty well. His blood work came back showing just the Pneumonia (no mono, no bronchitis--YAY!). His cough is subsiding after only one day on his new inhaler. His appetite is still pretty small, but his fever has stayed low or nonexistent since yesterday afternoon. I think (HOPE) we're on the mend!

We've received a ton of encouragement from friends who have been through this before with their kids when they were Andrew's age and its been so great to hear from them. They've all indicated they went through a really rough year of constantly getting Pneumonia, being admitted to run more tests and finding out its just the asthma or just a bad year. We're really praying we don't even have to go through being admitted and having tests run, but I will be less nervous about it if we have to go that route.

In the mean time, we're working hard at keeping him well and using his new inhaler every day.

Here's a couple of pictures from last week's trip to the track! :)

Frustrated. And a little nervous.

Well, we have Pneumonia again. That's twice in three months. Ugh. This time, its more aggressive, more widespread and just downright brutal. We have new medicines and stronger doses of old medicines and new inhalers. If we don't see an improvement by tomorrow afternoon then we have to admit him up at OHSU. At this point, the two doctors I met with today agree the asthma is the main cause of the Pneumonia--it prevents him from just kicking a cold and allows it to get into his lungs. If he gets another case of Pneumonia before next February (three cases, total, in one calendar year) then we have to admit him for more tests. The part that makes me nervous: the two doctors I met with were great--very communicative and honest with me. But they did that doctor eyes meeting nervous kind of exchanging glances sort of thing. THAT makes me nervous. And I told them so. And they were honest: its not normal for a child--even an asthmatic sickly child--to get Pneumonia this often and this easily. Something just isn't quite right...the asthma is the *main* cause but might not be the *only* cause. They didn't go into anymore detail than that. So...we will wait and see and pray. That's pretty much all I can do. And that's the part that sucks the most...

"I hear birds. And dogs."

Andrew has a stethoscope that was actually the one they used on Tori when she was orn (the hospital gave it to us). He loves to walk around with it listening to everything--the couch, the table, the front door, the carpet, Tori's hands...anything he thinks will talk back.

Today, he came up to me and said, "Momma, I'm the doctor. Let me listen, please." So I put the stethoscope up to my chest and took a deep breath. Andrew gasped and said, in absolute wonder, "Momma, I hear birds in there. And dogs!" Then he whispered, "We better let them out..." and he walked away. He has yet to explain to me the plan to get the birds and dogs out.

Updates and Pictures

1. Tricia's surgery is done! She has new lungs and now has to work on recovery. I don't know more than that, so check it out! www.cfhusband.blogspot.com

2. Still waiting to hear back on a few applications...

3. Andrew's cough is settling down. He's had a slight fever, but nothing drastic. Hopefully it stays that way!

And now...pictures!


We did some more potato stamping and he loved it! This time, we threw in some carrots, too! I was making a pot roast and thought, why not!?



How quickly they pick up on things...she was walking around the house jabbering away on my phone.

Some things to pray for...

Just a quick post with some prayer requests:

1. If you haven't read it, check out www.cfhusband.blogspot.com and start praying for her lung transplant and for the doner's family. This is huge! I don't know them, but I do read their blog every single day and I pray for them constantly.

2. I'm applying for a couple of part-time jobs to supplement our income and pay down our debt. Please pray something will come up SOON!

3. Andrew has ANOTHER cough. No fever (yet) and he seems to be acting like himself for now so I'm not too worried. However, after our last go-round with Bronchitis and Pneumonia, I'm probably a little more on edge than I would like.

4. Mark has started coaching track! Its great--he loves it--the kids love him--but we can always use prayer for energy, patience, wisdom and a good season!

More fun stuff coming later with some pictures! We did some more "potato stamping" but we used carrots, too! So fun!